Testing:
Testing consisted of monitoring the CPU's thermal output while at idle and under a heavy load. Idle conditions were established by allowing the system to sit at the Windows desktop for a period of no less than one hour. The load conditions were generated by running SiSoft Sandra's Burn-In Wizard using just the two CPU tests.
For comparison purposes I tested the Corsair Nautilus against what has proven to be my most reliable Socket 775 air cooler, the
Tuniq Tower 120mm CPU Cooler. This massive air cooler uses a single 120mm fan and can run extremely quietly while also providing excellent cooling.
A Spire DigiPanel was used to monitor all temperatures and an ambient temperature of 17 degrees Celsius was maintained at all times. During all phases of testing, the motherboard was exposed to the open air so that heat could not build up inside a closed case and impact results differently from air to water cooling.
From the chart above it can be seen that both coolers were tested at their high and low speed settings, and that overall the performance didn't vary all that much. The Nautilus provided temperatures only about 3 degrees Celsius less than what the Tuniq Tower was capable of.
While the cooling performance may not have been extreme in comparison, the Tuniq Tower is a pretty solid cooler and outperforms stock coolers with ease. One thing the Corsair Nautilus did accomplish was the production of less noise than the Tuniq Tower while at high speed.
Turn either cooler to their lowest speed setting and the tables are turned. The difference in temperatures was now only 1 degree Celsius in favor of the Nautilus, but the noise difference was very pronounced and all in favor of the Tuniq Tower. At its lowest speed the Tuniq Tower is all but silent, while the Nautilus really doesn't make much less noise than it did while at high speed. The main issue seems to be pump noise, so changing the speed of the fan does little improve the overall noise output.
Water cooling is generally desirable for one of two reasons; extreme cooling performance or low noise. The Corsair Nautilus doesn't really excel at either, although it does provided adequate results for general use.
